Monday, February 23, 2009

Sufism, as a practice, emphasizes certain unique rituals for guiding spiritual seekers into a direct encounter with God. It comes from the Islamic traditions in places especially Persia or Iran.
Muhammad is considered the chief prophet; many consider Sufism to be a mystical practice of Islam. The following story by the great Sufi teacher, Nasrudin, illustrates a common experience for those along the Way.

His friend, Mansour, comes to visit him and sees Nasruddin on his hands and knees, crawling on the sidewalk under the street lamp, obviously searching for something, appearing frustrated.

Concerned for his friend, Mansour asks, "Nasruddin, what are you looking for? Did you lose something?"

"Yes, Mansour. I lost the key to my house, and I’m trying to find it, but I can’t."

"Let me help you," responds Mansour. Mansour joins his friend, kneels down on his hands and knees, and begins to crawl on the sidewalk under the street lamp, searching.

After a time, having looked everywhere on and around the sidewalk, neither Nasruddin nor Mansour can find the lost key. Puzzled, Mansour asks his friend to recall his steps when he last had the key, "Nasruddin, where did you lose the key? When did you last have it?"

"I lost the key in my house," Nasruddin responds.

"In your house?" repeats the astonished Mansour. "Then why are we looking for the key here, outside on the sidewalk under this street lamp?”

In his book At Home in the Muddy Water, by Ezra Bayda, Buddhist practitioner and teacher, recounts this story about a key and a light.
"In trying to uncover how to best proceed with practice, we're often like Nasrudin, looking in the wrong place. Sometimes we're looking in the wrong place for something that isn't even there. We think there is a magic key, some experience that will make the practice permanently clear, especially in the midst of everyday difficulties." In the simple mind, we realize there is no magic key, nor do we need one. What is needed is to persevere through the ups and downs of life. We hold our own key.

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Living the Simple life

There is a small place near here of a family living the Simple Life. Taking the practice to heart, they have, since September 2009, provided a local C-U community food pantry with a weekly supply of their home produced, free range, organic eggs from their small flock of 40 birds to anyone in the community who goes to the food pantry-- to the tune of 700 dozen eggs so far and counting! That's over seven thousand eggs, wow.

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Commentary about the Simple Mind

This site does not engage in "New Age" or other Spiritualities that fall outside of what are often considered the great religions of the world: Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Judaism.

Yep, that's still a whole lot of territory to cover. I restrict comments to these because they encompass most of all belief systems, both theistic and non-theistic. So you aren't going to find a lot of sentient beings or other such terms here. Just everyday simple talk.

Affirming the Practice Principles of the Ordinary Mind Zen School:Caught in a dream of self--only suffering.Holding to self-centered thoughts--exactly the dream.Each moment, life as it is--the only Teacher.Being just this moment--compassion's way.

Some writers and persons bandy about terms such as sentient being or transformation, and while these words have specific connotations within different spiritual traditions, they can be as much of a hindrance as a help in coming to understand ourselves, the world and the path, or the way in which we find ourselves.

I emphasize that the Simple Mind is a mind that values experience and recognizes the utility of words; but words are limited. Not all experiences can be easily reflected in words. Do not lose sight of experiences as the simple way of a Simple Mind.